The King of Shanghai

An Ava Lee Novel : the Triad Years

The seventh novel in the Ava Lee series finds Ava getting caught up in the election for the chairmanship of the Triad Societies. Ava steps into her new business with May Ling Wong and her sister-in-law, Amanda. On a trip to Shanghai, Ava meets with Xu, a young man Uncle had been mentoring and who is also the head of the Triad in Shanghai. Xu makes an audacious business proposal that she and May are compelled to consider.

With the first books in this series the Triad connections were very subtle, they were mostly inferred and Ava had nothing to do with any of it. This book changes that drastically, not only are the connections highly visible but Ava is right in the middle of the action, as per usual.
I definitely miss Uncle in this story. There have been several additions to the cast of characters but none of them replaces Uncle, they're good characters but, at the moment at least, it rather feels like Ava could use someone to talk to and there is no one in that position.

This book will not disappoint - it is a nail biting page-turner. For me, this novel ranks as one of Ian Hamilton's best although my favourite is still "The Red Pole of Macau". I am looking forward to reading the 8th book in the series set to be released in February 2016.